Quickly Remove Excess Physical Pollution on Pool Surface
Posted by poolplantcourses.org on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Under: Useful Tips
Excess physical pollution floating on the surface of the swimming pool can sometimes cause a problem for pool plant operators. The heavier physical pollution sinks to the bottom, but the lighter stuff remains floating around on the surface and looks extremely off-putting to pool users. This type pollution usually consists of things like; bits of float, plasters, hair etc. There will also be chemical pollution sitting on or around the surface of the pool, stuff like; biofilm, grease, sweat, mucus etc.
Modern pools are usually deck-level, meaning that the surface of the swimming pool is level with the deck of the pool surround. This system is very good at removing much of this pollution that resides on the surface, and within the top 150mm. because as the water laps over the edge of the pool, the pollution enters the drainage channel that goes around the perimeter of the pool.
In older pools, the deck-level system is not so common and instead, there may be a skimmer system or an overflow channel. The skimmer system is not very good at removing pollution from the surface as the skimmers do not go around the entire perimeter of the pool like a deck-level drainage channel does, so not nearly enough surface water goes through the skimmer for this to be an effective system. The overflow channel system isn't any better because if the pool level is too high or too low, the swimming pool water will not flow over the channel in the correct way and you'll end up with what is known as a 'scum-line'. This pool plant operator has spent many hours in years gone by kneeling on a float scrubbing away to remove this scum-line and it's not an enviable task.
If you've got either of the older systems (overflow or skimmer), chances are that at some point you've experienced going on to poolside and seeing excess debris floating around on the surface with a public swim session about to commence in a few minutes. There is a quick and easy technique that you could use to quickly and easily bring the swimming pool back to a reasonable standard of appearance in order to get you out of the immediate situation. You'll need 2 people, a rope that is as long as the width of the pool and a few towels.
1. Drape the towels over the length of the rope while it's lying on the poolside.
2. Get one person on each side of the pool and slowly drag the rope down the length of the pool, from shallow to deep.
What you should see is the towels acting as a filter/barrier. It will catch some of the smaller particles in the material of the towels, while at the same time push some of the larger particles towards the deep end outlets. You will probably also need to get the nets out and spend a few minutes going over the pool surface and collecting any debris that remains.
After you've completed this process, which should only take a matter of minutes, you should see that the appearance of the swimming pool has been greatly improved.
I should stress that this technique is a 'quick fix' only in order to get you out of trouble when you're under pressure. If any of the pool water test results are outside the correct parameters, then the appropriate action should be taken. But if all test results are OK, then this method should come in handy.
One other thing I will stress is that if you're experiencing this problem regularly, then this is an indication that there is an underlying problem somewhere. The pool plant operator should ask the following questions:
1. Are swimmers taking pre-swim showers?
2. Is the bathing load too high?
3. Is the correct circulation rate being achieved?
4. Is there enough fresh water going in (30 litres, per bather, per day)?
5. Are backwashes being carried out frequently enough?
6. Are the skimmer baskets being cleaned out frequently enough?
7. Are you using a coagulant, and are you dosing it correctly?
8. Is the skimmer valve closed, or being throttled back for any reason?
Modern pools are usually deck-level, meaning that the surface of the swimming pool is level with the deck of the pool surround. This system is very good at removing much of this pollution that resides on the surface, and within the top 150mm. because as the water laps over the edge of the pool, the pollution enters the drainage channel that goes around the perimeter of the pool.
In older pools, the deck-level system is not so common and instead, there may be a skimmer system or an overflow channel. The skimmer system is not very good at removing pollution from the surface as the skimmers do not go around the entire perimeter of the pool like a deck-level drainage channel does, so not nearly enough surface water goes through the skimmer for this to be an effective system. The overflow channel system isn't any better because if the pool level is too high or too low, the swimming pool water will not flow over the channel in the correct way and you'll end up with what is known as a 'scum-line'. This pool plant operator has spent many hours in years gone by kneeling on a float scrubbing away to remove this scum-line and it's not an enviable task.
If you've got either of the older systems (overflow or skimmer), chances are that at some point you've experienced going on to poolside and seeing excess debris floating around on the surface with a public swim session about to commence in a few minutes. There is a quick and easy technique that you could use to quickly and easily bring the swimming pool back to a reasonable standard of appearance in order to get you out of the immediate situation. You'll need 2 people, a rope that is as long as the width of the pool and a few towels.
1. Drape the towels over the length of the rope while it's lying on the poolside.
2. Get one person on each side of the pool and slowly drag the rope down the length of the pool, from shallow to deep.
What you should see is the towels acting as a filter/barrier. It will catch some of the smaller particles in the material of the towels, while at the same time push some of the larger particles towards the deep end outlets. You will probably also need to get the nets out and spend a few minutes going over the pool surface and collecting any debris that remains.
After you've completed this process, which should only take a matter of minutes, you should see that the appearance of the swimming pool has been greatly improved.
I should stress that this technique is a 'quick fix' only in order to get you out of trouble when you're under pressure. If any of the pool water test results are outside the correct parameters, then the appropriate action should be taken. But if all test results are OK, then this method should come in handy.
One other thing I will stress is that if you're experiencing this problem regularly, then this is an indication that there is an underlying problem somewhere. The pool plant operator should ask the following questions:
1. Are swimmers taking pre-swim showers?
2. Is the bathing load too high?
3. Is the correct circulation rate being achieved?
4. Is there enough fresh water going in (30 litres, per bather, per day)?
5. Are backwashes being carried out frequently enough?
6. Are the skimmer baskets being cleaned out frequently enough?
7. Are you using a coagulant, and are you dosing it correctly?
8. Is the skimmer valve closed, or being throttled back for any reason?
In : Useful Tips
Tags: "surface debris" "physical pollution" "chemical pollution"